Good cell phone for a senior

[Disneyfan754321]

My mother is in her 70s she has a bit of a hand shake. The cheap samsung android that metro sold her is not a good a good fit she has issues unlocking the screen... so we temporary moved her to a flip style phone, but she needs a smart phone she misses getting pics of the grand kids.
I was thinking about an iphone because they are easy to navigate (ithink)
I'm not an Apple person so I can't verify that it would be a good fit.
I found refurb iphone 6 plus for $100 in rose gold

 

[NeedMoreMickey]

The iPhone 6 is probably a waste of money. My mom in mid 80’s had a refurbished one and the battery kept dying. Plus Apple is alway having upgrade and the 6 is probably too old to handle them

 

[greentea]

iPhones have good accessibility features that might help her. I do think a 6 is getting old. I just replaced my 7.

The voice control is nice because it allows you to speak to tap on the screen, swipe, etc. How voice control works:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210417

 

[boop0524]

Are you able to test it out first for her using someone else’s iPhone? My grandma was easily able to navigate her laptop and tablet so we gave her an iPhone. She was totally lost and confused. She could never work it right. YMMV, but may be worthwhile to do some sort of trial run

 

[Meglen]

Google pixel 4a. You can get for as cheap as 150$. Super easy and can make all the buttons big. No bloat wear other than like YouTube and the Google apps.

 

[DL1WDW2]

I am thinking about the Jitterbug but this is new from makers of Jitterbug:

 

[Disneyfan754321]

I am thinking about the Jitterbug but this is new from makers of Jitterbug:
View attachment 591271View attachment 591272

I wish I knew someone with one to let her try.. thanks for all the advice that's why I asked first.
I considered jitterbug , but currently I have her on my plan just cause it's easier to pay the bill.
Maybe I should just do it..
I'm also going to look into the google pixel.
I can get a phone from tmobile but they ridiculous money for something she might might not be able to use.
I have a note 8 plus and she cant use my phone.
That's why I thought iphone might be easier...

Then for Christmas a iphone watch that detects falls

 

[cvjw]

My husbands 80+ year old parents both have iPhones and love them. My 70+ year old parents also have iPhones. My mom was the last to leave her old android phone for an iPhone. She was nervous to try something new. She has taken right to it. iPhones are very easy to use and understand.

I would get her the iPhone SE. My mom paid around $400 for hers. Don’t get a 6. That is too outdated.

 

[Yinn]

My mother is in her 70s she has a bit of a hand shake. The cheap samsung android that metro sold her is not a good a good fit she has issues unlocking the screen... so we temporary moved her to a flip style phone, but she needs a smart phone she misses getting pics of the grand kids.
I was thinking about an iphone because they are easy to navigate (ithink)
I'm not an Apple person so I can't verify that it would be a good fit.
I found refurb iphone 6 plus for $100 in rose gold

My uncle has the same. We had him on an iPhone and it gave him all sorts of fits. Even with it zoomed in, he had issues with even simple things like unlocking the phone. We could have left it unlocked but decided to try the Samsung A32 5g that T-Mobile was giving away for free.

It has been perfect so far, the larger size also helped as it gave more real estate to make it easier to see and make the icons bigger. But we also needed to setup a couple of things to make it pain free.

1. Facial recognition for unlocking. iPhone has this too, but the Samsung was more consistent. This was especially true when dealing with reading glasses.

2. Zoomed in mode, Easy Mode. Again, available on the iPhone as well.

3. Voice recognition & set default the assistant they're most familiar with. "Hey Siri" was not a familiar term to my uncle so YMMV

Those 3 things made the Samsung far more usable. He only uses maybe 3-5 apps. E-Mail, Phone, uses speech to text, photos and videos app.

 

[Best Aunt]

I have a family member who has the Lively (formerly Jitterbug) smart phone.

The contacts feature keeps breaking down on that company's phones (both flip phone and smart phone).

Right now it says that every incoming call is from the last person he called. He called customer service, they said they could fix it but the fix didn't work. Last I heard he was going to have to try calling them again.

 

[Micca]

Def pass on the iPhone 6 plus, I think this is the last year that Apple is supporting it. The best way to get comfortable with a new device is to use it a lot. People who only pick up their phone occasionally will forget some of the basic stuff (I've had this issue with some software I seldom use and have to re-learn its functionality.) I'd get mom a nice up-to-date phone and make it worth her time to keep up with it--the grandkids pics is a great idea!

 

[tvguy]

Another vote for Jitterbug.

 

[starry_solo]

Vote for Tracfone. How much does your mother use the phone?

 

[Disneyfan754321]

Vote for Tracfone. How much does your mother use the phone?

It's her only phone, just last year I talked her into lowering her cable bill by dropping the home phone.
She does not use the phone much but is showing interest in using Facebook ( only took years and years) to contact family she lost touch with. She is just so darn bad with technology. She loves seeing all the pics online on my phone as I showed her pics from my brothers wedding she could not attend and pics of the kids.

 

[greentea]

Other thought -- what about keeping the flip phone and getting her a tablet for pictures? The screen would be much larger, and it might be easier to use if she props it on one of those device lap pillows or put it on the table using a case stand? My friend's grandmother loves her ipad and is suddenly sending messages all the time, and she never really used a phone. I think she uses facebook to message for the most part, but you could figure out what your mom is most comfortable with.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

Other thought -- what about keeping the flip phone and getting her a tablet for pictures? The screen would be much larger, and it might be easier to use if she props it on one of those device lap pillows or put it on the table using a case stand? My friend's grandmother loves her ipad and is suddenly sending messages all the time, and she never really used a phone. I think she uses facebook to message for the most part, but you could figure out what your mom is most comfortable with.

That's a really good idea! I'm going to talk to her tonight.

 

[hsmamato2]

I wish I knew someone with one to let her try.. thanks for all the advice that's why I asked first.
I considered jitterbug , but currently I have her on my plan just cause it's easier to pay the bill.
Maybe I should just do it..
I'm also going to look into the google pixel.
I can get a phone from tmobile but they ridiculous money for something she might might not be able to use.
I have a note 8 plus and she cant use my phone.
That's why I thought iphone might be easier...

Then for Christmas a iphone watch that detects falls

I'd avoid jitterbug bc you don't get much for the cost.... I'd give her a flip phone,and gift an ipad mini so she can get pics sent to her that way. my dad in his 70's does that, he can manage an ipad, not a smartphone though.

 

[starry_solo]

Tracfone for a flip phone (you can get it for about $65 shipped for 1200 minutes, texts, and 1.2 GB of data) that is good for a year.

Plus, it's on the Verizon network so yay.

Then I agree with a tablet, although go for a larger tablet!

 

[_19disnA]

Are you able to test it out first for her using someone else’s iPhone? My grandma was easily able to navigate her laptop and tablet so we gave her an iPhone. She was totally lost and confused. She could never work it right. YMMV, but may be worthwhile to do some sort of trial run

I agree. Apple over the years has always developed different standards of how they products worked and were formatted. When we used to have both PC & Apple based computers at work, many were confused when switching from one to the other. For example, they always had trouble finding stored files on the Apple since it was actually a workspace/desktop you were storing unlike the PC based products.

I would try to find a larger size product that uses the same operating system she is familiar with. Whether some sort of tablet or phone is more a matter of personal preference and what other sorts of things she plans to do with it. Phone is more practical if she takes it out in public, while a tablet would be fine for home use and likely has a larger screen that is easier for viewing.

 

[MrsPete]

You say she has trouble with unlocking the phone with shakey hands ... is it JUST unlocking the phone? Or is it all phone use?
What I'm thinking is, if it's JUST unlocking the phone, why not take away the lock? I don't keep mine locked ... it's just me and my husband and one child here at home, and I don't really care if they look at my phone.
Yes to a larger phone. I love my slightly-larger phone because it's easier to read. I'll never have a small model like my daughter's again.